


Happy (That You Are Here)

by BisexualNerd



Series: Something Suddenly Has Begun [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst, Birthday, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne-centric, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Happy Ending, Humor, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake's Birthday - 2020, Tim Drake-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25365787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BisexualNerd/pseuds/BisexualNerd
Summary: Tim is nine today. He will be spending his birthday with the Waynes. This is also his first birthday with them.He will try to make this day as normal as possible. No need to waste people's time on him.Bruce is confused. Shouldn't children be excited about their birthdays? Tim is acting too normal for his liking.(And he has thought he couldn't hate the Drakes more. He was wrong.)-----------Happy birthday to the bestest boy, Tim Drake-Wayne!~19/7/2020~
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & His Kids, Everyone & Everyone, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Everyone
Series: Something Suddenly Has Begun [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836799
Comments: 36
Kudos: 352





	Happy (That You Are Here)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. I've decided to continue the Monster AU a bit earlier than expected since today is Tim's birthday and all. (Yeahhhh!)
> 
> Just to be clear, I've also decided to make the date 2nd April to be the day when Tim first came to live with the Waynes.
> 
> This was written while there was a massive power cut going on in my place so some parts might feel a bit off. I edited it when I got electricity but editing is not writing, okay? Can't believe they thought cutting off power since 5 am to 7:30 pm for two days was a good idea 😭
> 
> Anyway, have fun reading ❤

Tim opens his eyes. It's still pretty early in the morning and he can see the warm rays of sunlight streaming in through his window.

  
The boy shifts under his cover and pushes himself up to a sitting position.

  
There are chirping sounds coming in from the outside. Oh, there are some birds, which Dick has called them "robins" as if they looked alike to those from Earth. These birds are much larger and their colours stand out more against each other. The red colour in their wings is certainly the definition of "eyesore".

  
And the small, sharp teeth. _Urghh!_ Tim shudders when his mind drifts back to the time one of those birds chased Jason around. Oh well, at least the birds like Tim enough to not chase him anytime.

  
The small human tosses the cover back and drops down from his bed. Everything here is so huge and high. Bruce said they were working on it but for now, Tim has to learn to deal with some simple tasks involving giant furniture.

  
As his feet touch the floor, his eyes catch the sight of the calendar hanging by the window and his mind stops short a for moment.

  
_...oh..._

  
_Oh..._

  
Today is... _that_ day.

  
_His birthday._

  
Which is also his first birthday with the Waynes.

  
_Huh?_

  
Tim stares at the date without blinking. Today should mean nothing to him. Not like he has ever, well, done anything special on this day. He kept hearing kids at school talk about how awesome their birthday parties were, but he has never celebrated this day. His parents said it was a waste of time to do so.

  
But...Alfred's birthday was in April, only six days after his arrival. 8th April, he remembers. They had a huge party with so much food and everyone was so loud and happy. And Alfred was happy too. The old butler had smiled at them throughout the day, no "stiff upper lip" was seen. At all.

  
He feels a pang in his heart as he relives those memories. Will they...

  
 _No!_ He can't hope for anything. He kept hoping for something, just something, however small, to happen every year on this day, and he always went to bed with disappointment.

  
He has learned not to keep his hope up on this day over the years.

  
But it's hard not to since he has a new family now and all.

  
Tim sighs, making his way to the bathroom to prepare for a new day. A normal day. It will be a normal, ordinary day. He will not keep his hope up for anything. And be will not be wasting anyone's time too.

  
The boy steps into the kitchen half an hour later, with a smile resting on his lips and no word about his birthday is spoken.

\----------

Bruce is...nervous. He has woken up very early and then finds all his kids (except one) in the kitchen talking to each other in a hushed tone.

  
"Dad!" Cass is the first to notice his presence.

  
"Good morning, sweetheart." He smooths out the feathers on her wings while searching for any suspicious expression on his other kids' faces. "Good morning to all of you too. What were you kids talking about?"

  
"Dad...it's uh...19th...July..." Jason presses.

  
"Tim's birthday." Bruce continues for his son.

  
"Exactly!" Dick grins. "We were just, you know, planning. It's his first birthday with us."

  
Bruce nods, eyes fixed on the piece of paper in Duke's hands.

  
"So, what is your plan?"

  
"We were thinking...maybe we can make it a surprise party?" Dick loves surprise party, of course. They couldn't prepare one for Alfred because the old butler always knows whatever is happening inside the manor (and outside too, if any of his kids acts suspicious). But Tim, on the other hand, is definitely not Alfred.

  
"What else?" He asks.

  
"You can well, take Timbo out for a day, just hanging out, getting him some new stuff. And we can prepare for the party at home." Jason waves his hands around as if to make a point to convince him.

  
It's not hard for his kids to convince Bruce to do anything. Besides, hanging out with his youngest for a day would be nice. He wonders if Tim remembers what day it is.

  
\----------

  
His question gets answered about fifteen minutes later when Tim stumbles inside the kitchen with his shy smile and says nothing about his birthday.

  
Aren't kids supposed to get excited and count down to this day at least two months early?

  
The boy thanks Alfred for his breakfast and starts digging in. Nothing seems out of ordinary. His older kids seem to share his thoughts as they stare at the younger boy mutely.

  
Maybe it's something to do with Jack and Janet?

  
 _Obviously,_ it has something to do with those two.

  
Have they ever thrown this boy a party, however big or small? Maybe it's something they have said to him?

  
No child of his will be sad on their birthday.

  
Dick will have his preparation of a surprise birthday for Tim, and Bruce will try to cheer his boy up without a mention of today's event.

  
Also, his child needs more clothes. The clothes he has taken from the Drake manor hasn't been enough, and maybe a trip outside will cheer him up.

  
There are still many places for Tim to explore and with the adoption process going on slowly and unsurely, they haven't had much time for some fun activities.

  
At least the other monsters have given in to their case. 

  
"Tim, baby, can I talk to you?" He gently puts a hand on the boy's shoulder after Tim has finished with his breakfast. The boy nods and follows him to the living room.

  
"So, what do you want to talk about?" His child smiles at him but the twinkles in his eyes are missing. He swallows everything he wants to tell Tim about the party and breathes out slowly.

  
"I'm thinking, this is a nice day and I don't think being cooped up inside the manor too long would be good for you. What do you think about going out for a day? We should get you some new clothes then visit the park I've been telling you about. There's an ice cream parlour nearby too."

  
The boy's eyebrows furrow, looking deep in thought. Finally, Tim gives him a brilliant smile again.

  
"Sure. Sounds fun. Are we going now or...?"

  
"Go grab a jacket first. I know it's summer but you can never be sure with this world's weather."

  
"Okay." The boy is running up the stairs the next second.

  
This had better be worth it. He would hate it if he somehow ruins his son's birthday.

\----------

Tim grabs the first jacket he sees. A pretty thin one, but comfortable. Besides, if it gets cold, Bruce will hold him in his arms and wrap his wings around them anyway.

  
No one seems to remember what day it is. Good. No need to waste more time on him. His parents have never really bothered to remember, and if he ever talked about it, they would just ignore him. So this is not new.

  
At least father has tried not to hit him on his birthday. That was good enough.

  
Shaking the thoughts off his mind, Tim makes his way out of his room.

  
The boy skips down to the living room with the jacket in his hand and a smile plastered on his lips. He has been hoping for a day with Bruce but why he still feels so...down?

  
He should be happy. They finally get some time alone (and get ice cream too!) and he just can't feel happy. But he can't ruin today! Bruce offers to hang out after a very long time of dealing with annoying monsters in the government, so he should try to enjoy today.

  
The older monster is waiting for him by the doorway when he comes down with a key in his hand. They are not flying today, awww... He loves flying.

  
But taking a car is fine too. As long as he gets to hang out with Bruce.

  
Bruce offers to take his jacket and Tim gives it to him without making a fuss about it. He has learned that Bruce will always carry his things for him, so he doesn't even try to fight the monster on it.

  
"Shall we?" The familiar words slip past Bruce's lips and Tim soon finds himself seated in a slick black car.

  
"Can I even wear clothes in this world?"

  
"What? You don't think there's any monster with your size?"

  
"Just, some of them have so many arms, Bruce! And they can't even retract the extra arms like Alfred can!"

  
"Of course there are clothes for you. I would ask the family designer, but they are pretty busy right now. Besides, I want to spend a day with you, baby."

  
"Hmm. Okay. But if we can't find clothes fits me..."

  
"I can either ask the designer later or take you back to the human world to shop."

  
"The human world. Designed clothes are uncomfortable."

  
"Say that to Vanya. Do you want to get on their bad side?"

  
Tim shudders. Vanya is scary. He still has nightmares about their glare. They have like, 6 eyes, of course, it's scary!

  
"No...?" He weakly says.

  
Bruce laughs, ruffling his hair and the boy squawks, slapping the monster's hand away.

  
"Let's just go. Bruceeeeee..." He whines.

  
"Okay okay. Love you, kiddo."

  
"Hmm, love you too Bruce." And the car rolls down the deserted road.

\----------

Bruce is confused. Puzzled by the sheer ordinariness of his child. Tim can't be forgetting his own birthday, they have passed several places with a calendar of someone announcing today's date.

  
So it must mean one thing: Jack and Janet have enraged him again, without even being here.

  
Still, why the hell did he think those two would put any effort into their's son's birthday? He was foolish to think they're not complete assholes.

  
After having got Tim several sets of clothes, shoes and toys, he drives both of them to the park and lets his son run around for a bit. Soon enough, a tiny monster is trying to befriend Tim, who looks pretty interested as well.

  
"Bruce! Bruce!" His son calls him. "This is Sebby!"

  
Bruce looks at the other boy who is smiling shyly at him, the scales on his cheeks redden. It would be good for Tim to have a friend his age. 

  
"H...hi. I'm Sebastian. But everyone calls me Sebby. Y...you must be Mr Wayne."

  
The poor kid looks scared. He can't be that intimidating to other monsters, right?

  
"Hello, Sebastian. I'm Bruce, Tim's dad." Hopefully, it's enough to calm the child down.

  
"Sebby was just showing me how to play Taicatic! See you later Bruce!" Tim giggles, tugging at his new friend's hand.

  
"Okay have fun!" He calls after the two boys, leaning back to enjoy the sunlight. Seems like Tim is having a good day so far. 

  
_Wait a minute..._

  
"Tim! Come back! You don't have a tail to play Taicatic!"

\----------

After two hours of hanging out at the park with Sebby and Bruce, Tim finds himself in the ice cream parlour staring at the sundae in wonder.

  
It just looks so good!

  
"Tim...baby, eat your ice cream!" Bruce chuckles.

  
"But...but...it should be a crime to eat something this beautiful!"

  
"Food is meant to be eaten, my child."

  
The boy pouts but eats his sundae anyway.

  
"Bruce!" He whines. "This is heaven! Why didn't you take me here before?"

  
He is trying to not sound like a whiny brat, but this is just, unbelievable! His dad just grins at him and urges him to eat more.

  
"Slow down, kiddo, don't want you to get brain freeze."

  
Tim nods with his mouth full of ice cream. The older monster before him laughs out loud.

  
"Wut? Broose?"

  
"Sorry, sweetheart, it's just...you look like one of those...what is it? Squirrels in your world." Tim scrunches up his nose. He does not look like a squirrel!

  
A monster walks in the parlour and starts speaking to the one by the counter.

  
"I'm here to deliver the bananas you ordered. Check in here, please."

  
"Alright. Carl, yes? Bananas for Mr Jones...on 19th July...Good good. Here you go. You can deliver the bananas to Jules from the backdoor."

  
_19th July..._

  
Right. He was having so much fun that he forgot what day it is. The sugary treat in his mouth turns sour and he almost drops his spoon.

  
"Baby? Is everything alright?"

  
"I'm okay. Let me just finish this so we can go home."

  
The sundae disappears a few moments after.

\----------

Bruce drives them back. The manor's door is closed and there is a deafening silence surrounding the large house.

  
The manor is never silent. Even at midnight, or even at three in the morning, there's always noise. There was that time when the Rows siblings were sleeping over, and Damian sleepwalked into their room, which resulted in a string of screams and curses at 3:15 am. At least no one was injured at that time.

  
"Bruce?" Tim grabs his hand. "Something's wrong."

  
"It's okay, my child." The monster leans down to kiss Tim's hair. "Let's get inside, okay?"

  
Frowning, Tim follows his dad to the stairs. The older turns the door handle to open the door and with a swift move, he pushes Tim inside first with much grace so he won't fall.

  
" **HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!** " The loud cheer makes him frozen in his spot. With the lights on and all windows being opened at once, Tim now can see the huge _"Happy Birthday"_ banner behind everyone. Dick shoots a confetti canon upward and there are now colours everywhere.

  
Tim stares without blinking.

  
_What is happening...?_

  
From his left, Jason brings out a large cake with Alfred hot on his heels, probably to keep an eye on the cake. His older brother puts the cake down on the round table in the middle of the room.

  
"Happy birthday, baby." A low rumble coming from behind him snaps him out of his trance.

  
"I...this is...Bruce...what...what is happening?"

  
"It is your birthday. Your siblings and others have been preparing for the whole day. I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but Dick has wanted to make it a surprise party so, here it is."

  
"A surprise party? For me? You shouldn't have wasted your time..."

  
"Nonsense. Your birthday doesn't make anyone waste their time. We prepare this to make you, and ourselves too, happy. Birthdays are meant to be celebrated. It marks the day when someone came to exist in the world. Well, worlds. And I'm happy that you exist, baby. I am so happy that you are here."

  
Tim feels his eyes tearing up. The boy sniffles and attacks his dad with a bone-crushing hug, letting his tears roll down on his face.

  
He knows the others are watching from behind, but he couldn't care less. He's happy. So, so happy to be here, in his dad's arms with his family throwing him a birthday party.

  
He is so happy that his existence, and himself, are not a waste of anyone's time.

  
Tim's arms release his dad's torso and quickly wipe the tears off his face. The monster smiles and helps him.

  
"So here's the plan. You go there, let everyone wish you a happy birthday and receive their presents. Then we will have cake and take a lot of pictures, okay? After that, we can do whatever you want to, play any game and eat all the food Alfred has prepared for us. But no more crying, yeah?"

  
Tim nods, sniffles once more before giving Bruce a full smile, and receives one in return. His dad ruffles his hair, and this time, Tim doesn't slap his hand away. He lets Bruce lead him to the centre of the room to join their family.

  
There are so many presents, and the cake is spectacularly good. Everything is so perfect, he doesn't think he can ask for anything better than his. 

  
Night comes quicker than he has thought, and before he even realizes how late it is, Alfred has shooed them to the den and called in some maids to help him clean up the place. 

  
Damian, even though still looking as grumpy as usual, helps him gather his presents and puts them in a corner. He can always bring those to his room tomorrow with someone's help.

  
"Sleeping pile!" Cass pulls him to the mountain of pillows and blankets just to dump him on the soft surface. He then throws a pillow at Cass, which she easily catches.

  
"Pillow fight!" Dick hollers and quickly claims one for himself before getting knocked over by Duke, who is laughing at their big brother.

  
"Hah! Timbo! I will rescue you! No one touches my sidekick!" Jason grabs him with a blanket and wraps the thick fabric around him, placing him down on the armchair. The older boy then fights for two pillows to hold like swords in his hands.

  
"He's not your sidekick Jay!" Harper flies up with her purple and blue wings spread out, then throws a big blanket over Jason.

  
"Gahhh! I can't see! But I will escape this trap, you witch, and slay all of you!"

  
"Haha no." Stephanie grabs Jason's legs and the boy topples over and goes down, hitting his face on another pillow. The girl with the purple scales then howls with laughter and releases Tim from the blanket cocoon.

  
He jumps down to pick up a pillow and duck before Cullen can take a swing at him. Tim grins and hits the other boy back with the pillow in his hands. But before he can regain his balance from hitting Cullen, he gets knocked down by Carrie. The red-feathered girl grins maniacally and flies to ceiling, happy with his defeat.

  
"Alright stop! Kids! Put the pillows back!" The last line seems to be directed at Damian, who is still trying to knock Dick down while the older is laughing.

  
Aunt Kate grabs Damian by his tail, which quickly disappears while she mutters _"damn shapeshifters"_ to herself. The boy then takes the opportunity to flies to the armchair and perches on an armrest. 

  
Out of the blue, Jason pulls Damian down by his legs and chaos starts once more.

  
"Kids! Settle down!" Bruce appears in his line of vision and together with Kate, he manages to establish peace in the den.

  
"Go to sleep. All of you. You've had a fun day, and I'm sure you kids can hang out some more tomorrow, but it's late now. So don't start another pillow fight or I'm sending you all back to your respective rooms, okay?"

  
A chorus of _"Okay, Dad"_ and _"Okay, Bruce"_ echoes across the room. The older monster nods, leaning down to kiss all of his kids, and his protégés too, on their forehead.

  
He kisses Tim's forehead last, muttering a soft _"Goodnight baby. Happy birthday, I love you"_ to him.

  
"Love you too Bruce." Tim murmurs sleepily back and snuggles against Dick's chest.

  
The light goes out soon after, then the room drowns in darkness and the sound of soft snoring.

  
An unconscious thought crosses his mind.

  
It is his best birthday ever.

**End.**

**Author's Note:**

> Sooooo, tell me what you think of the fic, please. If you find any error, tell me so I can fix it.  
> Kudos, comments and bookmarks are all treasure I cherish so much. Thanks all for reading ❤
> 
> **Happy birthday to Tim, my favourite Batkid and Robin!**
> 
> I'm always available on Tumblr. You can find me at [@bisexualnerd](https://bisexualnerd.tumblr.com/). It'd be lovely to have anyone dropping into my messages or ask box. Or if you need anyone to talk to, don't be afraid to message me. I'd always be happy to help 😃  
> See ya all later ❤


End file.
